Obama still has ‘serious concerns’ about Iran, despite nuke deal

The United States recognizes Iran’s deal to transfer low-enriched uranium to Turkey, but said it does not address the fundamental issue of whether Iran is seeking the means to make a nuclear weapon, the White House said in a statement today. (more…)

Unidentified body with a gunshot wound to the head was found in Baalbeck

An unidentified body with a gunshot wound to the head was found in Hadath Baalbeck.
The head was wrapped with a red scarf . The man appeared in his thirties National News Agency reported. The Lebanese Internal Security transported the body to the government hospital in Baalbeck and started the investigation.

France accused of striking deal with Iran on prisoner releases

Paris judges are expected tomorrow to release an Iranian assassin from a long prison term in what appears to be part of a politically costly deal which won the freedom of a French student who had been held for 10 months in Tehran.

Ali Vakili Rad, who is serving a 1994 life sentence for murdering Shapour Bakhtiar, the last Prime Minister of the late Shah, in Paris, is to be flown home to Iran immediately after his release. (more…)

Miss USA comes from south Lebanon, celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths

By BASSEM MROUE
The Lebanese immigrant who won the Miss USA 2010 pageant comes from a family that stood out for its tolerance in a religiously divided country, relatives said Monday.

Rima Fakih, 24, was born into a powerful Shiite family in a village in southern Lebanon that was heavily bombed during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. But she and her sister said the family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths and prefer to be referred to as Lebanese, Arabs or Arab-Americans. (more…)

Lebanon thwarts a major drug smuggling operation

Lebanese Customs thwarted a major drug smuggling operation through Beirut port acting customs chief Shafiq Merhi said during a press conference on Monday. (more…)

Lebanon PM meets Saudi Crown Prince in Riyadh

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met on Monday in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz to discuss cooperation between their countries as well as important regional and international developments, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Hariri is being accompanied by former MP Bassem al Sabaa and advisers Naderl Hariri and Hani Hammoud. (more…)

West dismisses Iran nuclear deal

European Union and British officials have said that a nuclear fuel swap deal agreed by Iran, Turkey and Brazil might not be enough to stop the US-led push for tougher sanctions against Tehran.

A spokeswoman for Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, welcomed the deal on Monday, but said that the bloc still had “serious concerns” about Iran’s nuclear programme. (more…)

STL to file charges in Hariri Case by End of 2010

Special Tribunal for Lebanon(STL) Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare plans to file charges in the assassination case of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri by the end of the year, STL President Antonio Cassese said.

“Prosecutor Bellemare announced that he is likely to issue an indictment between and September and December of this year,” Cassese told The Daily Star. “This is what he said … This is my expectation.” (more…)

Killer of ex-Iranian PM could be freed in France

France’s interior minister signed an order on Monday paving the way for the possible release of a man convicted of assassinating former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar.

A Paris court is set to rule Tuesday on Ali Vakili Rad’s release from prison where he has been serving a life sentence since 1994 for the strangling and stabbing death of Bakhtiar, then 76. Judges already have said they favor a conditional release as long as an expulsion order comes through. (more…)

1,000 flights affected in Europe due to volcanic ash

Flight restrictions affecting London’s two major international airports — Heathrow and Gatwick — were lifted Monday after a no-fly zone had been imposed due to dense volcanic ash drifting down from Iceland.

Restrictions remained in place in Amsterdam, Northern Ireland and smaller airports on Scottish islands, (more…)